The Fix
by The-Erratic-Lot
Summary: In Ted's words...'how things get put back together' between Barney and Robin.
1. Chapter 1

**Year** : 2024.

Robin Scherbatsky-

Things were definitely not going as planned. She was having second thoughts.

It is the dream job.  
Getting to be an important news anchor, touring the world. To go different places, to see different things. And to not experience emotions that leave her breathless, as if a big part of her was still missing.  
This wasn't anything new. Robin had been receiving such pangs since the time she left New York, which only increased after parting ways with Barney and the birth of Ellie. Further intensifying following Ted & Tracy's wedding.

This was the job she had always wanted.  
Robin was supposed to feel free, liberalized and whatever other word that means the same.  
Where were the Most-nerdy-bys when you needed them?

Oh, come on! Now it's her cracking the lame-name jokes. Damn it!

There was no denying it anymore. She needed some serious company. ASAP.  
Be it the ones back in New York or the ones at the station.  
But the latter's idea of fun involved digging up dirt against each other with a daily dose of soap opera supplementing it; everyone sleeping with everybody and inventing news of dogs trying to commit suicide, to get on the news, leads to that.

Yeah, so definitely the New York gang.  
Besides it's more like home than any other place ever will be.

With that thought in mind Robin sends in her application for transfer to the head office.

x-x-x-

A flight later...

It's been a while now since the last time they all hung out together, even without her.

What with Marshall & Lily having a third baby, Tracy & Ted settling down as an official married couple in the subs'(that place still gave her the willies) and Barney taking care of an almost-four-year-old Ellie, with brown shoulder-length tresses which fall over her cute little angelic face that boasted the deep electric blue eyes of her father.

Ellie Stinson. His daughter.  
It hurts to even think like that.

No need to go there.  
She can't back out now considering the fact that the damage was done. New York's resident news anchor can't just be absent for her broadcasts.

It was time to visit again anyways, she thinks to herself.  
Well...Welcome Home.

* * *

Barney Stinson-

Ellie's spending the weekend at his mother's who wants to spoil her real grandchild for a change, and after dropping her off with a marching band; 'cause come on...she is awesome times infinity, he is on his way to work.

Barney will never admit it to anyone but other than his daughter there is another certain brunette who invades his thoughts, especially since the wedding.  
May it be due to worry, want or need; she is always there at the back of his mind.

It didn't help that half of the things in his world were constant reminders of her; his apartment, Mac Laren's and the engagement ring hanging on his chest.  
While the other half, Ellie, wasn't any better. With her soft brown hair and slim body frame she almost looks like a mini version of Robin.

Or maybe that's just him.

The troubling thing? Ellie's first word was "mum". And if that wasn't enough she had uttered it while pointing towards the TV screen featuring none other than said Scherbatsky with the evening news.

How do you even react to things like that?

Needless to say, that Ellie was growing up thinking that Robin was her mother. He didn't have the heart to tell her otherwise. So now he has to live with the constant fear that she will end up like him. Playing with the TV, asking it for advice and get her heart broken when it did not respond accordingly.

What her real mom will think about it? He doesn't really know.  
Because for starters he has never actually met her. But, what he is sure of is that she must have a rocking body and might be a cougar by now, 'cause he wouldn't have slept with her otherwise.  
Secondly, Ellie and him had decided to keep it a secret as the world was not ready for such an overload of awesomeness. It's not daily that you find out that an already awesome Ellie has Robin Scherbatsky for a figurative-surrogate mother.  
And thirdly, things were going pretty good so far so why ruin them? Ellie was to stay with her biological mom for three days a week and spend the rest of it with him.

Their lawyers had made the necessary arrangements and there was no need to get married. He would leave Ellie at her house and then pick her up again, along with the necessities required like breast(he he, honka honka) milk, on Monday mornings.

Things would be perfect, if only he could have been able to get over Robin. But even after the, various, allotted periods of distance, time and scotch that one needs to move on he hasn't been able to.

He had tried really hard, dating others with whom he had once connected(at various positions too, what up?!); from Nora to Quinn. Yet all he could think of was how the hair wasn't the right shade, the eyes weren't blue enough, and how none of them was...

Robin.

It all comes back to her in the end. Being with a girl for three years straight must do that to you.  
She is still all he can think about, dream of and be with. And if he can't than he will die alone, it seems, but not with someone who isn't her.

The rest of the female population will have to fend off without his awesomeness.

* * *

The clock at Mac Laren's showed that it was seven in the evening.  
People came and went. From men and women to the ones stuck in between. But all the blonde in a suit did was sit at the corner most booth; trying not to miss his daughter too much and reminisce about the good old days.

The only thing that got his attention?  
A brunette who had just entered the bar and proceeded to took a seat near the service booth.

It was hard not to spare a glance, as the moment she sat down a crowd of people consumed her for what seemed like an eternity, or around three-hundred seconds as the clock showed.  
And no, this misconception had nothing to do with his heart trying to get out of his chest the minute she set foot in the bar.

She hasn't changed at all. He observes.  
Still wearing those dresses that give off the vibe of elegance and yet manages to make her look hot and the slightest bit slutty at the same time.

After the hum-drum of the bar dies down a little and everyone goes back to their respective seats the blonde stands up to make his way towards the minor celebrity.

More than a decade has passed since he had walked the same distance towards the same girl with the same thing to say, but this time he follows her advice, looks at the mirror's reflection to make sure, and then delivers it out, lacing every word with the same seductive tone he had once used-

"100 dollar says, when you turn around I say 'WoW'."


	2. Chapter 2

Robin Scherbatsky-

It has been a really long day for her.

Getting everything back together; her apartment, her office and a quarter of her old life that didn't seem so shallow. Suffice it to say that in the end she had turned to, what once was, her second home-  
Mac Laren's.

It is still the same and as she takes her seat a crowd of people overwhelms her.

The usual 'aren't you a TV reporter' thing follows while all she can do is give out polite little smiles, answer the questions and pose for all the photos being clicked. She knows that this was something many people want and enjoy. She once did too, but now it had become a sort of default setting in her life that she would gladly skip.

After that is over, she orders her beer. It happens then.

"100 dollar says when you turn around I say 'WoW'."  
It was a bit troubling, how rapid a reaction her heart gives to that single sentence. She must have missed him more than she knew.

Deciding to play along, she replies as calmly as she can while moving her seat to face him. He hasn't changed much either, except for the few gray hairs mixing with his golden ones. And he still wears a suit.

"This is the fourth time you accidentally hit on me."

"You actually kept count?"  
It wasn't that hard to, with him occupying a better half of her brain.

"Yup, and now you owe me four hundred dollars."

"Whaaaaaaaat?"  
He retaliates in his high-pitched voice, dramatically. Turns out he still can't get over losing a bet.

"Hey, it's not my fault that you never said it."  
After all these years it's still easy talking to him, even considering what happened at the wedding, she can go all day.

"I did too...are you forgetting all the times after we, how to put this in the most innovative manner possible, fulfilled each other...quite fully."  
Is it whore-ish to claim that she remembers every single one of them?

"How is saying it in an 'innovative' way even relevant to the matter?"  
She answers, proud of herself for remaining pacified even though she felt anything but that.

"Just... okay? Slash the times we took a ride into the sunset, slash 'You have an enormous penis' is what you said after-"

Desperate times call for desperate measures.  
"Is that the creator of Looney Tunes out there?"

* * *

Barney Stinson-

The first comprehensive thought that came to mind was-  
"Where?"  
Which, he realizes a little too late, he has said it out loud for the whole world to hear. But come on, where is the greatest man who walked the face of earth?

"Seriously, you fell for that? And it's not like someone said, a hot girl coming through half-naked...  
You really are practically in love with that children's show. Ohhhh...I would like to see how you are gonna survive the rest of the month without laughing at one of its jokes."

She has the expression of someone who just found out how to save the world and was about to use it to their advantage. But who told her anything about the challenge?  
To his questioning gaze she replies with, "Lily and Tracy."

Practice your acting time.  
He scoffs, "Please...Who falls for such lame tricks. I was just looking if another one of your fans was coming over to worship you, while checking out the ass of the girls going out. And what you just called 'that children's show' is like the most awes-ful cartoon series there was, is and ever will be."

"You are taking the whole 'being both the mother&father' thing pretty seriously, aren't you? Must be, because that was a guy...  
Hey, now that you mention children, how is Ellie? And where is she anyway? From what I have heard you take her everywhere with you...Wait. Don't tell me you brought her here!"  
All but screaming out the last part.

She just had to bring her up.  
"Of course I didn't."

"Where is she then?"

Just stop already.  
"With her grandmom, now...can we please not talk about it."

She must have seen him trying to hold back tears because she finally stops, patting him on the back. "Well, I am proud of you for doing that, but I must say Looney Tunes? Come on man. A little 'Gruesome, ain't it?' "

"It's the most sensatio-not and grea-yest show of all things cartoon, alright?"  
He retorts in as don't-give-a damn-about-what-others-think-voice as he can and tries very hard to keep a straight face.

Yeah. Tries.

"Of course, of course...'Eh, what's up, Doc?' You don't look so good."  
Commenting on the dilemma that is his face and with the ridiculous accent she uses, he can't not crack a smile on that one, so he ducks down in order to hide his face in the jacket of his suit, to which she just laughs.

Once he's sure that the smile is extinct, he gets his head out of the cocoon of his suit jacket to the amused expression of Robin.

"The show is actually funny! There's nothing lame about it, alright?"  
He retorts, as fiercely as he can, referring to his beloved cartoon.

"Of course there isn't, and I never said anything about 'lame', did I?"  
But the smirk on her face begs to differ.

It's been a long time since the gang hung out together, so he's forgotten what a real talk with one of his friends used to be like. Especially one with her. Even after what happened after the wedding, it comes to him as simply as the next breath. Being with her, just talking about nothing. He has missed this for far too long. Figuratively and literally.

Not being able to hold it in now, he thinks of telling her just that.

That is when the bartender brings a beer, which she takes and then stands up saying, "I should go now, it was nice talking to you."

He can tell that she means it.

"Bye, Swarley. 'Th-th-th-that's all folks!'...for today."  
She lets out a second later, a smile playing on her face.

He can tell that she means that one too, and it is going to go on for a while, which makes him groan that -High five God Almighty- discloses the grin that may have come out.

It is while watching her retreating back, like all the other times when she has to go, he realises that he has no idea why she's back in New York, for how long, and if anyone else is aware of it other than him.

* * *

A car arrives at the isolated house located on the outskirts of Manhattan, a bit on the countryside, from which a blonde man in a suit comes out followed by a young girl carrying a bag.

The man crouches down to her level, whispering something, gives her a kiss on the cheek and then goes back waving goodbye while wiping at his eyes a bit.

As the car drives off a brunette makes her way towards the one left behind, who in turn runs towards the brown-haired woman and hugs her.

"Hello to you too, you little daredevil."  
Says the woman, while laughing and lifting the little one up, and continues-  
"You were right about your dad being crazy...may it be just for challenges or Looney Tunes."


	3. Chapter 3

Robin Scherbatsky-

Ellie just smiles at her, with the look that clearly says 'I told you so'.

Even though Robin had once thought that children were nothing short of chains that hold people back and she didn't want any, she will now happily admit it to anyone that she was wrong.

Ellie changed that. She is one of the best things that has ever happened in her entire life and also the reason for her immunity to jet lag.  
Going back and forth from one place to another, so as to attend to Ellie and her job, has its perks.

The day she had found out that she was pregnant was full of a mélange of mixed feelings.  
There was elation because of the fact that she could actually have children. But on the other hand it might mark the end of her career.

And to top it all off, Barney Stinson was the father.  
The man she was once married to, the man who said yes to the divorce. And the man she was still in love with.

Probably why she didn't run towards the adoption center first but, instead, decided to check with her bosses who agreed to keep her as long as it didn't interfere with her work.  
She promised it won't, so of course it did.

But in a good way.

Now there's a segment after the end of her broadcast where she rates the decisions of major celebrities on a scale of one to ten and wraps it up with her very own catchphrase- 'That's it for today's Scherpoop.' It's actually pretty fun.

As for telling Barney, she wasn't sure what he would feel after hearing that it was their child, so she had her lawyer contact him with the news of the pregnancy only to get to know what he really thought. Well... after Lily and Tracy informed her that Barney literally cried during their 'Robot v/s. Wrestlers' session, she couldn't bring herself to reveal that she was the no. 31 and put an end to his dream of doing all the other women in the entire world.  
Which she found out at the wedding was not the reason he agreed to the divorce; another thing she's happy to be wrong about. But after keeping it a secret for almost an five years now, Robin just couldn't bring herself to tell him the truth.

x-x-x-x-

As they enter the house Ellie asks her, "What does 'miracle' mean?"  
With how mature Ellie acts half the time it is really easy to forget that she's still a child.

"Ummmm...it's something great that happens, even against all odds. And definitely not Sir Scrathawan turning into a turtle. Why do you ask?"

"Aunt Lily was saying it's a miracle that you are back..."  
She couldn't agree more.

After a few minutes Ellie asks her another question and she can tell that everything before was just a build up to this one.

"Do YOU believe in miracles?"

Robin has to look at her daughter as she answers, smiling…  
"I do now."

* * *

Barney Stinson-

It's time for one of their conference calls. Lily called it this time while he was going to drop off Ellie at her mother's.

 _"Robin's in New York?"_  
 _Lily had screamed out in surprise when she got to know about his meeting with her at the bar. Even Tracy didn't have a witty comeback for that one._

 _They hadn't missed a single one of Ellie's departures, when all he felt like taking Ellie someplace far away so she wouldn't have to leave. Must be why they came, to make sure he respects his part of the deal and does not end up losing her forever._  
 _But three days are just too long._

 _"I take it, you didn't know that she was visiting...?"_  
 _With how flabbergasted she looks he is sure that is the case, 'cause otherwise he would have received some warning months before her arrival. Robin's schedule was just that tight and come on...this is Lily we are talking about._

 _"Seems like another one of life's great mysteries. And there are no Mosby Boys here to solve them… Looks like Detective McConnell is back in business! WooooooHooooooo!"_

 _Ignoring their groans at that, Tracy further continues, "If she didn't tell anyone then there's a pretty good chance it was meant as a surprise, which means..."_

 _Lily voices out what's going on in everyone's minds, "She's back... Wow. Talk about a miracle."_

 _"What miracle? And I seriously think there are wolves around here. I just heard one of them howling."_  
 _Ellie says, coming out of the apartment._

 _Tracy saves the day by her silly little banter._  
 _"You sure you wanna know about the miracle honey? Because even Aunt Lily and me were taken aback."_  
 _She asks her seriously, avoiding the wolf part._

 _Seeing what's going to come, Elie lets out-_  
 _"Please tell me that it's not the 'two plus two equals four'."_

 _"No, my dear. It's 'eight plus eight equals sixteen'. You are growing up now."_  
 _Lily answers this time with a somber face._

 _"You always do that to me!"_  
 _Ellie stalks off with that complaint whilst shaking her head like a grown-up who is used such childish antics. A cute frown on her face._

 _The moment the car's door close Lily announces, "Conference Call."_

As a result, he finds himself at his office, after dropping Ellie off, with half the gang to have a talk about the other half:  
Robin.

* * *

"Well...we knew this day would come, didn't we?"  
Starts Tracy.

"Yeah. But who would have thought that it would actually happen? It's just one of those things that you hope would come true, even though time and again it had been proved that there's no chance. So, when it does...well you are shocked to say the least. Happy but surprised. Like Ted finding Tracy."  
Declares Marshall.

"Right? Right?!"  
Replies Ted.

"I mean, could you have even imagined in your wildest dreams that the conference call thing could really work? That too at different corporations! Now that's a miracle if there ever was any."

Barney begins than.  
"I know. With Tracy and Lily taking care of the kids and Ted babysitting children and Marshall wearing a black dress while beating the gavel all the time which must be pretty tiring so he should probably let someone else take his place, like-"

"Not happening bro."  
Marshall interrupts.

"Oh, come on! Just one time?"  
Barney tries again, with a whiney note in his voice.

"I teach college students. Not babysit them."  
Ted retaliates, insistently.

"Guys! Stop it."  
Lily shouts.

"Tracy was talking about Robin's return. Not the conference call."

"Hey do you think anyone has already written a book on these sort-of esca-"  
Tracy wonders out loud, or at least tries to when Lily let's out an exasperated-  
"Tracy!"

"Alright, alright. I am just kidding... Or am I?"  
She responds with a raised eyebrow, still a little lost in the possibility. The disapproving look from Lily brings her back to earth.

"So, when are we having the reunion?"


	4. Chapter 4

**Year** : 2020

The Wedding...

After Lily's emotional summary of Ted's life, they are back at the wedding hall to make sure everything is the way it should be. With that out of the way Robin and Lily then go to Tracy's allotted room to help her with the finishing touches of her make up. Once that's done, Lily excuses herself to go look after the kids. The second she's out of the room Tracy breaks down.

"I can't go through with through with this wedding..."

"Wait, what?"  
Robin looks at her dumbfounded.

"I can't go through with this wedding, Robin!"  
Tracy says, desperately.

"Is that a default dialogue for every bride getting cold feet?"  
Robin asks, reminiscing about the time she was going through the same.

"You don't understand... I just can't do it!"  
Tracy replies hyperventilating.

"Sure. And that is what we call wedding jitters, Tracy."

"Yeah...maybe you are right. Maybe they will go away once I get some fresh air."  
She says inching towards the door.

Robin holds up the keys then and says in a sing-song voice-  
"You will need these..."

"Damn it!"

"Come on, Tracy...you already have two kids together. Try thinking about it rationally."  
Robin tries to get some sense into her.

"You are right. I am going about this the wrong way..."

"Wow, that was easy."  
Robin utters, surprised.

"I should run away with you."

"Wait, what?!"

"I mean think about it, you always go big for me. You got here at the last second because I asked you to. You went to second base with me at your own wedding. We could travel the whole world together, with the kids. It would be hard to bat for the other team, but hell, I could try."

"Are you out of your mind?"  
Robin screams at her, just a little tempted. 'Cause it's stupid, so stupid.

"You are right. It's just...I... I guess maybe this happened because we took so long to get married?"  
Tracy says falling on the chair, her hand on her head.

Robin then reassures her that it happens to the best of them, to which Tracy asks about why Marshall and Lily did not have to go through it.

"They had their own set of wedding problems to be worried about."  
Robin responds.

That gets Tracy smiling, thinking about Marshall's hairstyle and Lilly trying not to be a bride-zilla. Having calmed down considerably, she asks Robin to go check on Ted to make sure he got these jitters too, otherwise she would feel guilty.

Robin complies, and just to be sure she locks the windows and doors.  
On her way to Ted's room, Robin comes across a sleeping Barney in the hall. Knowing he must be aware if Ted went nuts too or not, she wakes him up to ask him-  
"Hey, Barney! Did Ted get the wedding jitters?"

"Did Tracy send you to check if he did, to know if 'it was meant to be or not?'"  
He answers air-quoting the last part.

"I will take that as a yes."

"Can you believe those two getting cold feet like that? They should have learnt something from us." Barney says proudly.

"Why? To get a divorce after three years of marriage? So that Ted could sleep with every other woman in the tristate area? Nah, wouldn't recommend that."  
Robin replies, trying to be as aloof as she possibly can.

"Alright, that's offending...  
Ted would never be able to pull of something like that without me there to guide him through.  
Secondly, I already did all of them. Well, only the hot and under-30 ones of course. What up?"  
He utters enthusiastically, his hand raised for a high-five.

Her disapproving expression has him backtracking. Barney then continues-  
"And you probably did not say all that to hear this. So... what are you getting at?"


End file.
